Developing Countries and Accounting Rates Reform : A Technological and Regulatory El Niño?
New technology and the liberalization of telecommunications markets are putting increasing stress on the accounting rates regime -- the system used by telecommunications carriers to settle their international traffic accounts. While operators in mo...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Viewpoint |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1999/01/441522/developing-countries-accounting-rates-reform-technological-regulatory-el-nino http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11499 |
| Summary: | New technology and the liberalization of
telecommunications markets are putting increasing stress on
the accounting rates regime -- the system used by
telecommunications carriers to settle their international
traffic accounts. While operators in most countries
acknowledge that the current system is unsustainable, many
developing countries have resisted the pressures for radical
change, arguing that it will cause an unbearably large drop
in their operations' profitability. Many depend heavily
on international revenues to subsidize network development
and public services. Several of the most vulnerable
countries derive up to 50 percent of their
telecommunications revenues from international settlements.
And for about thirty countries changes to the settlement
regime will have a significant effect on current account and
fiscal balances. In several of these countries the
telecommunications sector is characterized by distorted
pricing structures, ineffective policies, and a monopoly
service provider. This Note briefly reviews the growing
pressures on the current arrangements, analyzes the
countries most affected, discusses the future of
international telephony pricing, and outlines new sources of
assistance to help developing countries make the transition. |
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